The Millennium Doctor Speaks:

"Taking the pulse of 2000 A.D."

Happy New Year 1996! As Tennyson said, "Ring out the old, ring in the
new... Ring out the false, ring in the true." The bimillennial era
has begun, 1996--2001! Look for '96 to be one of exploration, then '97 and
'98 as preparation. Then come 1999--2001, the New Millennium celebrations
will be in full swing. And if the past is any predictor of the future, we
will as Hillel Schwartz says, "fear 1999, meditate on 2000, and demand
great things from 2001!"

Everything up until now has just been the warm-up act. That's right, all
the millennial "prophets of doom" and "wizards of hype"
have just been the pre-show. The "scare-mongers" and "award-givers"
will not likely perform the main event. Rather than horror and hype, people
are looking for hope. Our greatest challenge in '96 will be to find that
hope--deep and wide enough, which can speak to the human soul, gripped by
the end of an age.

News from the Field:

"Here is the latest news on year 2000 efforts"

TOP TEN HEROES NAMED FOR 1995
What do Colin Powell, Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Scott O'Grady have
in common? Each were recently recognized by The Millennium Society as among
the "Top 10 Heroes of 1995." Founded in 1979, The Millennium Society's
main purpose is to permanently endow a "Millennium Scholars Program"
to support the "heroes of tomorrow."

Each year since 1984, the Society has polled its worldwide membership to
determine who inspires them the most. The top ten heroes have then been
announced at yearly press conferences, this year at the National Press Club.
Previously "top ten's" have beenm announced at the Berlin Wall,
the Great Wall of China, Times Square in New York, and aboard the QE2.

The Millennium Society's 10 Heroes of 1995 are:

President Bill Clinton: for bringing together the hands of peace

General Colin Powell, for his amazing 'American Journey'

Oprah Winfrey, for leading the fight for America's women and children

In honor of Rebecca Anderson, all the rescue workers in Oklahoma City

Heather Whitestone, Miss America 1995, for proving there are no limits

Cal Ripken, Jr., for reminding us all, it can be done

Captain Scott O'Grady for his honorable return

Oseola McCarty, an 87 year old from Hattiesburg, Miss. who donated her
life savings from washing laundry to fund scholarships to the University
of Southern Mississippi.

Mark Cave, for building hope for D.C.'s "college bound" youths

Christopher Reeve, for inspiring us with the real superman

Each honoree was sent an official invitation - donated and engraved by Tiffany
& Co. of New York - to join previous recipients including President
Reagan, Bob Hope and Vaclav Havel at COUNTDOWN 2000 THE WORLD MILLENNIUM
BALL at the Great Pyramids at Giza, Egypt on December 31, 1999.

Since 1979, the Millennium Society has been planning a celebration which
will not leave people with a hangover the next day, but one which "results
in a scholarship endowment which will spur even greater achievements in
the next thousand years." Source: meadwell@alaska.net

GET YOUR MILLENNIAL CASUAL WEAR
With the millennium just 1,825 days away, don't tell me you don't have anything
to wear! "New Millennium Designs" of Nashua, NH has just released
a whole line of artistic causal clothing under the trademark of "World
Countdown 2000." Their t-shirts feature slogans such as "where
we've been, who we are, where we're going" or "Celebrating humanity's
march into a new century." Contact: Mark Yacco at (603) 880-0938.

Talk from the Forum:

"Here is a recap of recent conversations"

APOCALYPTIC OR AMAZING CENTURY?
If the 20th century was one of the most violent and destructive ones in
history, did any latter-day "apocalyptics" foresee it? As prophetic
as it sounds, one Talk 2000 academic, Charles Miller <malik@unm.edu>
contends they did. He points to the early 20th century writings of Solovyoy,
Three Conversations on War, Progress, and the End of World History, Including
a short tale of the antichrist and supplements. Apparently Solovyoy
predicted a coming apocalypse, including, the emergence of "a Zionist
state, the Japanese defeat of China" and other events. Add to that
the Russian gulags, the German concentration camps, the Chinese cultural
revolution, the American atomic bombs, and Miller contends that the 20th
century has enough apocalyptic events to allow for a symbolic correlation
with book of "Revelation." A new book The Age of Extremes:
a history of the world, 1914-1991 (Patheon Books, 627 p., by Eric Hobsbawn)
agrees we experienced a century of "unprecendented violence and destruction"
but attempts to balance that realization with its unprecendented prosperity
and advances."

TAKE A MILLENNIUM SNAPSHOT
Almost like clockwork each month on Talk 2000, you can expect some new Moses
to come down from Mt. Sinai with tablets telling us how we ought to celebrate
the year 2000. Last month was no different. Millennialist Greg Wright (gsb@macronet.org)
recommends we make the "turn of the millennium from 1999 to 2000 the
most photographed and videographed moment in history." Wright proposes
that this "mega-participatory" event be built as a public/private
art project which would create by 2005 a navigable database of tens of millions
of images of people, places and events the world over. Imagine in 2033 plugging
in a CD-Rom with your great-grandkids, showing them a spectacular east to
west sunrise captured at the dawn of third millennium in 2000. Ah, "millennial
memories," something that would warm the heart of any Kodak corporation
stock-holder!

WHAT KIND OF MILLENNIAL ANIMAL ARE YOU?
This month, Talk 2000 medieval specialist, Richard Landes <rlandes@acs.bu.edu>
took up the distinction between the scholarly wise "owl" whose
hoots confirm we are still deep in the night, as opposed to the brash "rooster"
who crows in anticipation of an imminent redemptive dawn. Landes feels these
two millennial animals often relate dysfunctionally. Early on in an apocalyptic
cycle, the rooster is allowed to dominate the public discourse. Late in
the cycle after the millennial date has passed, the owl erases all evidence
of rooster's prophecy. Talk 2000's "Doomsday Man," Ted Daniels
<mpred@usa.pipeline.com>
offered four traits he sees in today's roosters, 1) an overwhelming sense
of self-righteousness, 2) the complete lack of humor, 3) the tendency to
nurse grudges, and 4) an indefatigable sense of their own importance. Bob
McClenon <rmcclenon@syncorp.com>
noted that when farm roosters persist in crowing when it is still night,
they are likely to end up in a cooking pot! He confessed, rather than be
a rooster or an owl, he rather be a cat, given the felines own cycle of
life which has little regard for night or day. Long live Garfield, eh!

New Millennial Sites:

"Here are new sites in cyberspace"

THE MILLENNIUM SOCIETY
The group planning the big New Year's Eve 1999 "World Millennial Ball"
at the Great Pyramids of Egypt and 23 other sites around the world just
put up a home page. Their motto: "Do Something Great For Civilization...
and Have A Ball Doing It!"http://www.alaskanet.com/party1999

ROSE PARADE 2000
Millions of people will celebrate New Year's Day 2000 and 2001 by watching
the Tournament of Roses. It's more than just a parade and football game.
It's America's New Year Celebration, a greeting to the world on the first
day of the year. For a peak at the community spirit and love of pageantry
that has thrived in Pasadena for more than a century, check out:http://www.citycent.com/ccc/roses.htm